Concrete is very strong in compression, but relatively weak in tension. To compensate for this imbalance in concrete's behavior, reinforcement bars (rebar) are cast into the concrete to carry the tensile structural load. Rebar has been commonly used for reinforcement as the coefficient of thermal expansion. When reinforced concretes freezes or gets hot, the two materials contract and expand similarly. In addition, the bond between reinforcing steel bars and concrete is strong; steel typically includes surface deformations to further improve that bond. Due to the strong bond, the concrete effectively transfers stresses to the steel and vice versa.
Other non-metal reinforcement bar is known in the art, including the use of fiberglass, aramid fibers such as Kevlar, Tarwon, and carbon fiber. However, fiberglass is porous and can lead to a weakening of concrete by allowing water transfer. In addition, the elongation to break off fiberglass is excessive high and aramids and carbon fiber are cost prohibitive.
More recently, reinforcement bar produced from continuous basalt fiber has been found to be superior to steel in both pervious and non-pervious concrete. The Applicant, Raw Energy Materials of Pompano Beach Fla., is a manufacture of basalt reinforcement bar marked under the trade name RockRebar™, RockMesh™, RockStirrups™ and RockDNA™ that is placed within concrete, including pervious concrete.
What is lacking in the art is a non-metal concrete reinforcement product that provides lateral containment and support for the longitudinal bar steel or FRP tendons that provide tensile strength to cementitious material or plastics to reduce bending moment by reducing the onset of shear.